Bertolt Brecht

Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht (/brɛkt/; 10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956) was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director of the 20th century. He made contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter through the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble – the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife, long-time collaborator and actress Helene Weigel.

Life and career

Bavaria (1898–1924)

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (as a child known as Eugen) was born in February 1898 in Augsburg, Bavaria, the son of Berthold Friedrich Brecht (1869–1939) and his wife Sophie, née Brezing (1871–1920). Brecht's mother was a devout Protestant and his father a Catholic (who had been persuaded to have a Protestant wedding). The modest house where he was born is today preserved as a Brecht Museum. His father worked for a paper mill, becoming its managing director in 1914. Thanks to his mother's influence, Brecht knew the Bible, a familiarity that would have a lifelong effect on his writing. From her, too, came the "dangerous image of the self-denying woman" that recurs in his drama. Brecht's home life was comfortably middle class, despite what his occasional attempt to claim peasant origins implied. At school in Augsburg he met Caspar Neher, with whom he formed a lifelong creative partnership, Neher designed many of the sets for Brecht's dramas and helped to forge the distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre.

Podcasts:

Famous quotes by Bertolt Brecht:

"Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which"
"Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good."
"No one will improve your lot if you do not yourself."
"War is like love, it always finds a way"
"Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels."
"Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life."
"Boy meets Girl, So What?"
"Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably."
"Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes."
"Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life"

Bertolt Brecht

Erotische Gedichte

Released 2006

The Collector's Three Penny Opera (Weill-Brecht) (1929-1931 original cast, feat. Lotte Lenya)

Released 1990

Born: 1898-02-10

Died: 1956-08-14

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Latest News for: Bertolt Brecht

Grand Theft Hamlet’s creators put Shakespeare in GTA to put chaos back into Shakespeare

Polygon 19 Jan 2025
Grand Theft Hamlet is a documentary film, kind of. It’s also an experimental theater project ... “There’s this apocryphal story about Bertolt Brecht, who in one of his productions thought it was all going a bit too smoothly,” Crane added ... ....

Martin Luther King, Jr., Vietnam, and Gaza

Scheerpost 19 Jan 2025
Martin Luther King Jr. Flickr. By Edward J. Curtin Jr. / EdwardCurtin.com ... It’s a touchy philosophical question that has no definitive answer ... Were they disgusted with us? ... I think of the poem To Those Born Later, by the German poet Bertolt Brecht. ... . . . .

Martin Luther King, Jr., Vietnam, and Gaza. Edward Curtin

GlobalResearch 16 Jan 2025
Before my mind was turned to the subject of my title, I started to write a piece called “Are the Dead Nostalgic?” ... You can understand their reluctance to say anything ... ... ... ... ... ... I think of the poem To Those Born Later, by the German poet Bertolt Brecht. ... .

The Bob Dylan mystery machine

New Statesman 15 Jan 2025
Rock biopics. Familiar stories lumpenly told ... [See also ... Played by Elle Fanning, she got him into civil rights and nuclear protest, Bertolt Brecht and Arthur Rimbaud, yet her time in the film is spent mostly standing in the wings, looking upset.

What’s Coming to BAM in 2025: An Interview With Amy Cassello and Gina Duncan

New York Observer 09 Jan 2025
Gina Duncan and Amy Cassello. Noam Galai / Beowulf Sheehan ... Sign Up ... You can opt out anytime ... This spring, we’re presenting Barrie Kosky’s contemporary reimagining of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s iconic Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) with St.

Cynthia Erivo Casts a Spell: How Her Elphaba Changed ‘Wicked’ for Good

The Wrap 06 Jan 2025
Born in London to Nigerian immigrants, Erivo’s path to acting began when she was 11 and appeared as the queen in a musical production of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” a serious drama that was not written to be a musical ... .

American-Century Fight, by Patrick Lawrence

The Unz Review 02 Jan 2025
I was riveted, then, when OR Books brought out Joel Whitney’s first book, Finks. How the C.I.A. Tricked the World’s Best Writers , in 2017 ... Joel Whitney ... So ... I thought of something Bertolt Brecht once said — Brecht who favored episodic dramatic structure.

Patrick Lawrence: American-Century Fight

Scheerpost 02 Jan 2025
Plaster-model of the face of the Statue of Freedom, which sits on top of the U.S. Capitol dome. (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain) ... How the C.I.A ... state ... So ... I thought of something Bertolt Brecht once said — Brecht who favored episodic dramatic structure.

‘Babygirl’ filmmaker Halina Reijn had no problem directing steamy sex scenes

The Los Angeles Times 01 Jan 2025
“I was raised by radical hippies, so nobody teaches me boundaries,” she says unapologetically. “I’m just open about everything ... Where did you get the idea of using microexpressions — humiliation, exasperation, disdain — to get laughs? [Bertolt] Brecht.

PATRICK LAWRENCE: American-Century Flight

Consortium News 31 Dec 2024
American history is the history of the counterrevolution” — a discussion with author Joel Whitney about his latest book, Flights ... state ... So ... I thought of something Bertolt Brecht once said — Brecht who favored episodic dramatic structure ... .

Sylvie Russo in 'A Complete Unknown' is based on Bob Dylan's former girlfriend Suze Rotolo. ...

Business Insider 27 Dec 2024
Suze Rotolo and Bob Dylan pose for a portrait in 1961 ... And Suze was just a real person." ... She loaned him poetry books, introduced him to works by Arthur Rimbaud and Bertolt Brecht, and took him to local hang-out spots for artists and painters ... ....

The arts pack powerful punch, especially in turbulent times

Chicago Sun-Times 26 Dec 2024
Artists are rabble-rousers — from Bertolt Brecht, the German poet and playwright who used his works to criticize the rise of the Nazi regime, and Faith Ringgold’s civil rights paintings, to Woody ...

Faith of A Mustard Seed

Nashville Pride 24 Dec 2024
One final opportunity in 2024 to “Know the Truth”. “Bryan is this country’s most powerful voice for truth and justice ... “Who does Not Know the Truth, is simply a Fool Yet who Knows the Truth and Calls it a Lie, is a Criminal.” (Bertolt Brecht) ... ....

The Rez of the Story

Lakota Country Times 11 Dec 2024
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatrical performer . (born 02/10/1898, Augsburg, Germany — died 08/14, 1956, East Berlin) who once wrote ... I can see why bullies get away with their violence against others ... In chapter Thirty (pp ... . .

Luigi Mangione’s Commonplace, Deplorable Politics

The Atlantic 11 Dec 2024
J ... The claim that insurance-company executives are murderers, and therefore fair game for murderers, is the health-care equivalent of Bertolt Brecht’s quip about not knowing who was the greater thief, the one who robs a bank or the one who opens one ... .

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